Our Story
​Al & Sharon were the perfect match because they shared their life’s journey, yet they each always found their own way. When it came time to build their legacy, she wanted to find cures, and him, expand minds. Together, they created the Al & Sharon Cinelli Family Foundation. In December 2023, the foundation shortened its name to the Cinelli Family Foundation...click here to learn more.
Expanding Minds
For more than 40 years, Al Cinelli shared with his family that he wanted help “turn on the key” to learning for students after he was inspired by tutoring he received from his college roommate as he was learning calculus so many years ago. Inspired by Al Cinelli's experience, CFF funds educational research to help students, preferentially in high school, learn more rapidly by “turning on the key” to learning. CFF aims to support education research, innovative programs and technologies to help reimagine educational ecosystems and radically improve learning outcomes.
Finding Cures
In his life, Al found love twice. And, both times, he lost his love to cancer. Lois, his first wife and the mother of his children, succumbed to leukemia in 1976. Al later married Sharon, who won her battle against Stage 4 breast cancer in the early 1990s but later succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2020. As we were losing Sharon in 2020, her last wish was that we split the foundation’s focus to include funds to find cures for these three cancers.